I had already written a guide on this topic to help the less experienced understand what it meant to talk about "file format" or file extension ". So I had written what to do when a file does not open or if it is opened with the wrong program.
In this short post I make it much simpler, pointing out three useful applications to all those who find themselves unknown files on the computer and do not know how to open them .
Unfortunately, Windows has a flaw that Linux does not have, for example: if a file is not recognized, there is no easy way to immediately find the right program to open it. When a file does not open there are two possibilities: either the file is corrupt and invalid but, in this case, Windows should recognize it the same, or it is unknown and Windows does not know what program to use to open it.
Even if you open a window where you can start the search for the program, this operation rarely brings satisfactory results.
Generally, the first thing you do when you find yourself a file that doesn't have a program associated with it by default, is to right-click on it and select to open that file via notepad or with another text editor. Even if it were to open but the text is an incomprehensible code, it means that another application is needed. What you can do is go to the internet and write on Google " How to open the drg file">
The sites that provide immediate indication of which program is used to open an unknown file are:
- File-Extensions.org, complete but not nice to use.
- FileInfo, very modern and with a convenient search bar to find any file extension.
To do it first, however, you can install an application that automates the search process to find the program capable of opening the unknown file .
1) Smart File Advisor is a program search software to open unknown and unrecognized Windows files. The peculiarity of Smart File Advisor is that, even if the search on your database is not successful, you can send the first 20 bytes of the file to their servers and help the program to identify what type of file it is . This tool integrates into Windows and makes the search window appear every time you click on an unknown file. If you want to try, try changing the extension of an image on your computer and try to recognize it. Anyone who does not want to install the program can simply go to the developer website which provides an online search to recognize and identify files.
2) OpenWith is another useful software to immediately recognize an unknown file and find with which program it can be opened. After downloading it, during the installation, you are asked to install the MightyMax 2009 program, a commercial program that should not be put. OpenWith integrates into the menu when you right-click on a file icon and suggests the right program to open a file that Windows does not know.
In case, the program is not present on the computer, Openwith should give the exact link to download and install it.
The files supported by Openwith are mainly audio, video, images, photos, documents and archives.
3) The OpenWith Enhancer program finally shows in the Open menu With new recommended programs to open a file.
To catch a file even if the extension has been intentionally changed and to understand what file it really is, you can however use the TRiDNet program, very powerful in analysis and identification.
